


FFVII Camp NaNo Drabbles

by PhoenixDown (SekseeDragoness)



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: 100 Themes Challenge, Camp NaNoWriMo July 2019, Don't copy to another site, Drabble Sequence, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-06-30 05:35:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19846675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SekseeDragoness/pseuds/PhoenixDown
Summary: Cloud-Centric Drabble sequence for Camp NaNo.





	1. Freedom

He couldn't believe it. He'd really done it. He had joined the ShinRa army.  
He was free...  
Even to him, it sounded like a contradiction. He was now a cadet, a grunt, a peon that had signed his life over to a company that was waging wars and creating super SOLDIERs, and he wanted to be one of them, which would mean being indentured into service for the rest of his known life.  
But even knowing all of this, Cloud Strife had never felt so free.  
He guessed it was something to do with it being his own choice to join. He was finally free of the ridicule and bullying he had been forced to endure his entire life, growing up in Nibelheim.  
It was a fresh start. One that he knew would lead him to his dreams of becoming a First Class SOLDIER and hopefully closer to his idol, the General of the ShinRa Army, Sephiroth.  
Sure, he knew it was probably exactly the same dream as half of the cadets that joined, but, as his momma always said "Dreams are like water. Without a current to follow, the water becomes stagnant". Cloud planned to follow his dreams until they were either attained or proven impossible. Then he would find a new dream to follow.  
That was the thing about dreams until they were attained, they could always be changed.  
Cloud had no plans to alter his dreams any time soon. He was going to do everything within his power to achieve them.


	2. Capture

A month later and Cloud was thinking the price of his dreams was gonna be steeper than he had expected.  
He had never been in so much pain in his life, which was saying something, considering he had spent his childhood being bullied and beaten nearly every day.  
But this was a whole new level of torture. Not only was he worked until he was bone-tired by his teachers and instructors, but apparently his life as a punching bag wasn't quite over and there was a big difference between getting bashed by a group of pathetic backwoods hicks and getting thoroughly beaten by a group of second-year cadets who had already started learning how to hurt people in more ways than Cloud had ever thought possible.  
He was currently hiding in the relative safety of one of the observation decks that overlooked one of the training gyms. It was one generally reserved for cadets but was known to occasionally be reserved by any number of SOLDIER who were wanting to spar when the VR rooms were either fully booked or were being repaired (rumor said it was usually due to Commander Rhapsodos' infamous temper flaring).  
Cloud had already heard a number of the boys run past looking for 'their runt', but there were, he had found, some advantages to being said 'runt'. He had managed to curl himself up into a small empty cupboard under one of the control units for the gym. Even if they came into the room, they would likely assume the cupboard was either too small, or full of supplies of some sort.  
He felt stupid and pathetic laying there on his side in the dark, but he was feeling safer than he had felt in weeks. He curled his arm up under his head and sighed.

He wasn't sure when he had fallen asleep, hell, he didn't even remember closing his eyes, but he was abruptly awoken by the sound of the small metal cupboard door being yanked open. He winced when the door banged against the wall as the sound echoed through the small enclosure.  
He looked up slowly, terrified to see which one of the second years had captured him. He could only hope it was one of the bigger, slower guys, they were surprisingly easy to get away from.  
When he looked out, all he saw was a pair of regulation boots that took a step back away from the opening, then a stern voice ordered "Get out of the cupboard, now!"  
Oh, he was soo dead!


	3. Empty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seph and Zack bromance gives me life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning, these chapters appear to be getting longer and longer as I go... dunno that these really count as 'drabbles' anymore, but... FUCK IT! LMAO.  
> Also, I'll update warnings as I go.

For what seemed like the millionth time that year, Zack found himself staring at the VR room doors in disappointment.  
Usually, when he got to the doors, he was pumped up and ready to get in there and fight. But today, he was once again faced with a hastily written note, scrawled across a white piece of paper that stated: "DUE TO TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES THE VR ROOM IS OUT OF ORDER UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!"  
Zack sighed "Genesis!" It was always Genesis.

He turned around to stomp away and find himself an empty gym to train in when a small shiver went up his spine. He instinctually stood up straight and saluted as he looked up to see General Sephiroth approaching him.  
The silver-haired man returned his salute before his eyes glanced towards the note on the door and he sighed "Genesis!"  
Zack couldn't help but snicker at the uncharacteristic outburst from his superior. Sephiroth simply raised an eyebrow and smirked at his friend's young student. Zack stood there a little awkwardly as the man stopped and stared at him with narrowed eyes for a moment, before turning abruptly and walking back towards the lifts while saying "Come with me Fair"

Zack was quick to comply and caught up with him at the lifts "Um, where are we going, Sir?"  
"Sephiroth"  
"S-Sir?"  
"We are off duty, Fair. You can call me Sephiroth"  
"Oh, ok. Then, call me Zack!" He smiled brightly at the man. Angeal had said he was a nice person, just socially awkward, but Zack hadn't really believed him. Now he was reassessing things. "So... where are we going then, Si-Sephiroth?" He winced at his stumble, but the man ignored it.  
"The lower gyms" He said simply. As though it was obvious and that had explained everything.  
"Uhhh, ok" Zack shrugged and figured he may as well just go along with it. If they were going to the gyms, that meant a workout either way. If it was with the General, it would be awesome. If the man was going there for some other reason, Zack could always just do his normal workout on his own.

When they got to the floor they needed, they were surprised to see three cadets run out of one of the rooms, to look at the lifts.  
All three gasped, seeing who was walking out of it and as one they came to attention. when almost the same thing happened with two more cadets coming out of two rooms further down the hallway, Zack frowned at them.  
He had heard one of the boys calling out 'Have you found the sneaky little-' before he had reached the door and damned near choked on his own tongue to stop himself from finishing whatever he was saying and saluted.

Zack half-expected the General to ignore whatever was going on, but instead, the man came to a stop and motioned for the group of boys to come and stand in front of him.  
Once they had all gathered in front of him he looked over the group before speaking quietly "Tell me, who is it you are all apparently soo desperately searching for?"  
The question was directed at the boy who had spoken earlier, but the general was watching the reactions of all of them.  
Zack wasn't at all surprised to see the shifty looks that darted between the boys when they thought he wasn't looking. One of the boys even leaning across slightly to whisper 'That little snitch better not have told' to one of the other boys. Clearly, this lot had no idea exactly how sensitive SOLDIER hearing was.

The comment was ignored as the seeming leader of the group answered the General's question with an obviously put on shyness "Ah, s-sorry General, Sir. H-His name is Cloud Strife, Sir. I know we shouldn't be, but... w-we were just messing around playing hide and seek, Sirs" He looked around at his friends and they all nodded in agreement "Cloud always wins and so we all end up looking for him in the end" He chuckled nervously.  
The General seemed to consider this for a moment before accepting it with a nod "What you do in your own time is not my concern, so long as it is not harmful" The boys all nodded as he stepped aside to let them walk past. The relief from the group was almost tangible as the silver-haired First turned away from them.

Just as Zack was about to speak up the General stopped and turned around to call out to the group "A moment, Cadets" Zack watched with satisfaction as the group turned around and seeing the look on the General's face, seemed to gulp as one. He had seen that look on the General's face when his mentor had shown him a recording of himself and Genesis fighting the man. It was the 'I'm was just fucking with you and soon you are going to regret your life' smirk that he had seen him give Genesis, that had the boys suddenly feeling like rabbits staring down a hungry wolf.  
"Tell me, if we happen to find this... friend of yours, will his story be the same?" The General seemed to pause for an answer, but the second the boy who had spoken early opened his mouth to answer, he held his hand up to stop him "First, let me remind you, before you answer, whom you are speaking to. If any of you are aiming to join the SOLDIER track - and I'm assuming that is all of you - Your career will eventually lay in my hands. I demand the utmost amount of trust and respect to exist amongst my SOLDIERs because these are the men who my life will depend on during battle and whose lives will depend on me" He looked every one of the boys in the eye before continuing "So let me ask you again. Will. Your. Friend. Have the same story to tell me if we happen to find him?"

One of the boys in the back seemed nervous and opened his mouth to say something, but the leader, seeing this, glared at him and spoke loudly over him "Yes he will, Sir. We were just messing around playing hide and seek, Sir. But we appreciate that you are trying to look out for our fellow Cadets, Sir" He must have forgotten that he was meant to be the shy cadet and his arrogance shone through in his statement.  
The other cadets agreed with him quietly when the General looked at them with a raised eyebrow.  
He sighed in disappointment before dismissing the group.

As the group got on the elevator, the two SOLDIERS heard them whispering frantically and the lead boy arrogantly stating "...don't worry, there's nothing he can do to us anyway. He's just a puppet, he doesn't actually run SOLDIER..."  
As the doors closed and the silver-haired man looked at his fellow SOLDIER with raised eyebrows, Zack burst out laughing "Boy is that kid in for a severe wake-up call!"  
The General hummed in agreement as he looked up and down the hallway curiously "Feel like looking for a missing cadet and getting the real story? I suddenly find myself wanting to show exactly how badly I can fuck up that young man's career prospects"  
Zack laughed again as the man grinned evilly. He never imagined that the man would actually display such emotions with him so freely "Sounds like fun, besides, the light knows what they did to the poor kid before he managed to hide from them. It really is the responsible thing to find him and make sure he's ok"  
"This is also true. I'll start this side, you start the other" The General said, turning to enter the first room.  
"I have a better idea" Zack smiled as the man turned around curiously.  
He pulled out his PHS and dialed in a number, then waited a moment "Hey, Red... yeah, good, you?.... Hahaha, no, no... mmmmaybe later?... Look, you know how you owe me that favor?... HAHAHA, NO, not THAT favor... yeah... yeah, look, I need you to find out where a certain cadet is... No, no, nothing like that. We think he was being bullied, the group was looking for hi-... ... Yeah, OH! HEY" Zack looked up at one of the cameras hidden in the ducts with a huge grin and waved "... Yup... oh, ok. Awesome! Thanks, Red... Yup, sounds good... NO, I WILL NOT!... fiiiiine. See you Friday!" He hung up the phone and laughed at the look on the Generals face.  
"Do I even want to know why a Turk owes you a 'night at the Honey Bee' as a favor?" Sephiroth asked.  
How the man had managed to say that deadpan was beyond Zack, but it was hilarious. He shook his head in reply then waved for the General to follow him down the hall and into the second last observation room."Apparently, this is this last place the cadet was seen heading into"  
They both stepped in and looked around at the completely empty-looking room.  
Zack watched as Sephiroth moved over to the most obvious hiding place and opened the two lockers that were sitting against the far wall, while Zack took a quick look under the desk section of the control panel.  
He stood up and scratched the back of his head as he looked over at the other man, who shook his head to indicate that he had found nothing "Your friend is sure he never left this room?"  
"Yup. He said the kid came in, those other boys came in later and left to search elsewhere, but the blond kid never left" He shrugged.

They both sighed then stood there looking around, looking up at the roof to see if there was any way the kid could have climbed out through a vent, even checked on top of the lockers and under the desk again.  
They were just about to give up and start going room to room when Sephiroth held a hand up.  
Zack went silent, looking at him questioningly. He seemed to be listening to something that Zack couldn't hear, as his eyes slowly drifted over to the tiny cupboard underneath the control panel. The mans face morphed into confusion as he looked at it.  
"No way" Zack snorted as he looked at the cupboard. But then he heard it. It was the sound of very light snoring coming from the cupboard "No. There is no way someone could fit in that!" Zack stated. Sephiroth simply shrugged and yanked open the cupboard door. He winced slightly as it rebounded off of the wall and a small yelp was heard from inside.

Sephiroth took a step back away from the cupboard and ordered "Get out of the cupboard, now!"  
Zack watched in horrified fascination as a small cadet managed to push himself out of the small space and unfold himself with a few groans and likely a few painful kinks, to stand at attention in front of them.


	4. Blood

Cloud tried his best not to shake as he managed to push himself out of the space he had wedged himself into, and then stand. He quickly came to attention as he realized exactly who had found him.   
"How in Hell...?" The man in the Second Class uniform looked him up and down before bending forward and looking into the cupboard in shock.  
Cloud thought he must still be dreaming because he swore he heard an amused snort from the Silver General, but everyone knew the man didn't have a sense of humor. There were even rumors floating around about him being a cyborg. It would certainly explain him never showing any emotions (or so people said).  
He swallowed thickly as the General looked him over, then he was surprised to have the man pull one of the two chairs in the room over to him then guided him to sit down. Before Cloud could think any more about it, the black-haired man was fussing over him, lifting his chin up and looking at his face, then grabbing a piece of material out of one of his pockets to press against the side of his head.   
"Assholes really did a number on you, huh kid?" He asked as he smiled at Cloud, then winced as the blond flinched away from him, when he put some pressure on the wound "Sorry buddy, need to stop the bleeding"

Cloud was still sitting there confused, looking between the two and wondering why they weren't telling him off for hiding in a cupboard. He hadn't even realized that he was bleeding, though that would explain the splitting headache and why the back of one of his shoulders of his top felt sticky.  
The General was on his PHS, talking quietly to someone as the Second kept up a constant flow of words "So, I'm guessing you're Cloud? Interesting name, is that like a family or regional name or something? I've never heard of anyone with that name before, makes you unique. Kinda like that hair of yours. Oooh, that looks painful. So, you're a first-year? Man, I remember my first year. It took me forever to get used to the early mornings and I sure don't miss that food they feed you guys-"   
Cloud wasn't sure if he was meant to actually be answering the questions thrown at him, but he figured the answer was no because the man was barely taking a breath between subjects, let alone giving him enough time to answer.

As the General hung up, the other SOLDIER stood and spoke to him "Looks like the kid has a concussion, no wonder he was passed out in the cupboard. We're lucky we found him, with a head injury like that..." He trailed off with a sigh as he glanced over his shoulder to look at the clearly confused cadet "... he doesn't look too bad all things considered. That cheek looks pretty swollen, I wouldn't be surprised if they find a fracture there. It would explain the black eye and haemorrhage in his right eye"  
The General nodded "Turks are rounding up the group from earlier and I contacted Angeal to speak to him" He said, nodding towards the blond "He said he'd meet us down in medical"

Cloud was officially irritated. He was right there, why weren't they talking to him instead of talking over him. The stubborn Nibelheim Mountain Boy part of his brain decided enough was enough "You do know I'm right here and can hear everything you're saying, don't you?" He said while frowning at them, but then the part of his brain that was functioning properly nudged him and he added meekly "Sirs?"  
The black-haired man smiled at him brightly "Awwww, sorry Spikey, we didn't mean to talk over you, we're just worried about you. Come on, let's get you down to medical so we can get you fixed up" He said as he helped the cadet to his feet "My name's Zack by the way. When you get down to medical you'll get to meet my mentor, Angeal Hewley. He looks big and mean, but he's really a big teddy bear, so don't let his looks fool you"  
"Fair!" The General said sternly.  
The energetic SOLDIER looked at the General and grinned in spite of the stern look he was getting "What, Sir? Are you saying you think he won't turn into a big softie at the sight of Spikey here?"   
Cloud frowned at the nickname but was too busy trying to keep his balance to say anything. The General was looking him up and down again, then he sighed and smirked "Fine, you have a point"   
Zack cheered in victory and tried to do a little dance, but unfortunately, as he was supporting him, it left Cloud off balance and he felt himself tipping sideways until a large hand gently steadied him. The General kept his hand on the cadet's shoulder until the Second realized and took over his support again with an apology.

Cloud was too in shock to do much of anything. The Silver General. Sephiroth himself had just looked at him and smiled, before rolling his eyes at Zack's antics. Cloud just knew at that point that he was definitely hallucinating.


	5. Shelter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter this time, working on the next one already though.

Cloud was not feeling good. He was dizzy, he couldn't get his mind to keep focus, the wound on the back of his head was throbbing along with the one on the side of his face, he couldn't stop shaking and he was kinda feeling like he might just vomit. That last one was probably to do with them being in the lift, the movement of those things made him feel queasy on the best of days.  
He looked up as the bell chimed and the door opened onto one of the lower levels. They would have to take one of the walkways over to the next building to get to the medical wards.

He made it all of three steps from the lifts before his vision started to fade out. He tried to let Zack know, but his voice failed him as his body slowly started to tilt sideways.  
He closed his eyes tightly as his whole world was suddenly upturned, but instead of feeling himself hitting the ground, he realized he was laying against something warm and his feet were dangling in the air.  
He blinked his eyes open and stared up into mako green, cat-slit eyes. His entire being wanted to apologize for making the man have to carry a lowly peon like himself. He wasn't worthy to breathe the same air as the General, let alone be pressed up against him (and didn't that just bring up a whole slew of delicious visions to his mind). He knew he was likely blushing to the roots of his hair, but seeing the look the man aimed at him when he went to open his mouth, was more than enough to shut him up. It was a look that said 'Do you really think that I would pick you up if I didn't want to? Are you seriously going to insult me by questioning my actions? Didn't think so!'  
He kept his mouth shut and instead, leaned his head against the man's shoulder. He was about to close his eyes when the man spoke. He felt it rumble through his entire being "Don't go back to sleep, cadet. You have a concussion that you are probably lucky you woke up from the first time" He nodded very slightly and tried to keep himself awake by looking around at where they were.  
They had just reached the lobby and were heading across to enter the covered walkway that ran between the main building and the medical facilities when he heard familiar voices. He turned his head slightly to see two men in black suits escorting his bullies across the lobby towards the elevator they had just left.

As soon as he saw them he started to panic. His breathing sped up and his entire body stiffened. A small whimper sounded from his throat before his vision of them was blocked by a curtain of silver "Hey" Cloud looked up and gasped at the close proximity of the Silver Generals face. He had bent forward, letting his hair fall around them both "Take a deep breath. I have you and there is not a thing they can do to you. Just breath with me" Then the man started taking exaggerated breaths in and out until Cloud followed suit.  
He saw their black-haired companion move to block the bullies line of sight to Cloud and he took comfort in the fact that these two men who didn't even know him, were willing to provide him a sort of shelter from their ridicule. He continued to breathe deeply until he had calmed down "Thank you" He whispered to them. He was far too embarrassed to look at them anymore, but they deserved at least that.


End file.
